


Slow Process

by ThePerfectVoid



Category: Keroro Gunsou | Sgt. Frog
Genre: Developing Relationship, Fluff, M/M, originally spelled it as kululu so if it suddenly says kululu anywhere i missed that and i apologize, pure enough to make Kururu cringe, seriously this is just pure bonding and fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:14:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23213839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePerfectVoid/pseuds/ThePerfectVoid
Summary: Dororo wants to bond a little with Kururu. As expected, Kururu makes that a very slow-moving process.
Relationships: Zeroro | Dororo/Kururu (Keroro Gunsou)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 90





	Slow Process

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, it's 2020. Yes, I'm writing Sgt. Frog fanfiction. We exist.
> 
> Really though I've fallen into another major fixation with a decade-old love of mine, and I'm happily giving myself the content that just isn't out there in written form. I forgot how rare it was to find any quality written work for KuruDoro — thank God I'm a multishipper, I guess!
> 
> Anyway if you enjoy this, please drop a kudos and comment and tell me what you liked!

“Kururu-dono? Are you there?”

Dororo stood outside the large, toothy doors of Kururu’s laboratory patiently, awaiting a response from the man inside. He tapped the sides of the box in his hands a little nervously, hoping the contents of which would be appreciated — he’d worked hard on them and would be rather disappointed if they went to waste.

“Hm? What do you want?"

“O-Oh, I have something to give to you! May I come in?”

There was a long pause, which worried Dororo a little, but he felt himself brighten up a bit hearing Kururu’s response over the speakers: “Sure, alright.”

The doors pulled upward, revealing the dark interior of Kururu’s lab. Dororo worried for the man’s already-poor eyesight, working in conditions that put such strain on his eyes. He stepped deeper into the abyss, soon met with the flood of lights from Kururu’s multiple-monitor setup at his work desk. The man himself was seated at his large chair, the back of which was towards Dororo, leaving only his large headphones visible from behind. Dororo cleared his throat a bit, still a little nervous.

“Um, I have this for you,” he said, holding the box out in front of him. “It’s nothing particularly special, but I wanted to extend my thanks to you for saving me the other day when Keroro’s plan nearly had me killed.”

“Ah, right, that. Well, he was abusing the machine I had built, and I saw no point in letting that go on. Saving you was kind of just the collateral damage of me stopping the machine.”

“You still abandoned your post here and came to free me before shutting down the machine. I consider going out of your way like that to be kindness — kindness I am here to repay in a small way.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, I guess. Leave the box on the desk and get out.”

“Ah, um… of course. Very well.”

Dororo stepped forward, placing the cloth-wrapped box down next to where Kururu was working away on his computer.

“It’s homemade rice balls and steamed curry buns. I hope you enjoy them!”

Met without a verbal response, Dororo took that as a sign to go ahead and take his leave. Stepping out of the lab, he felt… _good_ about the exchange, overall. Sure, Kururu was still standoffish and a bit rude, but it was more conversation out of him that usual! He felt good about that! Hopefully the future would bring even more out of him.

* * *

“Kururu-dono?”

“Oh, you’re here, _heichou_. What do you want?”

“You said the rice balls and curry buns I gave to you were good, so I brought you another batch of them. Koyuki-dono and I enjoyed making them a lot and decided to make more of them, and I saved a portion for you.”

Kururu didn’t look up from the project he was working on, seated on the floor of the lab with a soldering gun in hand. He pressed the gun to an exposed wire, sealing it to the metal tab inside of the device he was building.

“Cool. Just set it down here on the floor and I’ll get around to it.”

Dororo did as instructed, crouching down to rest the box beside Kururu. In doing so, he curiously examined the project at Kururu’s feet.

“What is this you’re building?”

“Hm? Oh, Keroro wanted me to make a device that could clean every surface in the house with the press of a button.”

“I… see… and so you’ve built it for him.”

“Nah, I didn’t wanna do that. This thing turns Gundam models into cabbage leaves. _Kuuukukukuku~”_

Dororo couldn’t help but giggle a little. “Th-That quite honestly sounds more reasonable a device than what Keroro-kun was asking for!”

He looked over at Kururu, his laughter dying down a bit as he noticed Kururu just… staring at him. It was hard to gauge the other man’s expression, with his large, swirled glasses obstructing his eyes and his permanent, unsettling grin. The moment was soon broken, though, as Kururu looked back down at what he was working on, putting down the gun in his hand and picking up an odd-looking wrench of some sort.

“Anyway, you gave me the thing you wanted to give me. You can get out now.”

“O-Oh, right, of course.” Dororo rose from his crouching position. “I hope you enjoy them! I enjoyed getting to talk with you again today, Kururu-dono!”

Dororo took his leave once more through the large, open doors of the lab. Kururu, still within, scoffed a little.

“Hm, what a weirdo…” he remarked to himself, immediately undoing the knot on top of the box and reaching inside to retrieve a bun.  
  


* * *

“Kururu-dono, I’m here!”

“You know the drill.”

Dororo smiled to himself as he stepped closer to Kururu’s work bench, plopping the box of food down on the table. It had been a few weeks of this whole routine they’d unspokenly agreed to: Dororo makes some food, brings it to Kururu, they chat a little, Dororo leaves. Every time, Dororo made an effort to comment on something Kururu was busy with or to ask about something within his range of sight, hoping to draw a little more conversation out of Kururu. At times, Dororo felt like he was often speaking to a brick wall when it came to getting any responses out of the other man, but as time has gone on, he’s actually been able to hold some decent conversation between the two of them (well, “decent” meaning “wasn’t immediately shooed out after exchanging two sentences” — the bar is rather low here).

“What has you busy today, if I may ask?”

“Meh, just a portable gamma deflector — had some nearly-scrap parts lying around and didn’t want them just sitting there, so I put ‘em to use.”

“Wow… Certainly this is just my own lack of familiarity with much technology, but I find it quite impressive how much you are able to create with seemingly so little at your expense. You have quite the mind, Kururu-dono.”

 _“Kukuku,_ don’t I know it. I didn’t earn my title and rank for making potato batteries, after all.”

Dororo chuckled. “Of course, of course… It must be satisfying to be able to put things together with ease like this.”

“It gives me something to do, and being the most useful one on the team certainly has perks.” He continued typing away rapidly at his computer for a moment before speaking up again. “Y’know, you really oughta make more use out of technology. Keronian assassins utilize all sorts of biotech in their work these days.”

“Oh, certainly, but I no longer associate myself with my assassin work much these days. I have abandoned it in favor of the ninja lifestyle, and part of being a ninja is making use and connecting to the natural world around you. Trying to integrate technology into that would just be messy and complicate things, really.” He smiled at Kururu. “I appreciate the offer, however — thank you.”

“... Tch, alright. Suit yourself.”

Dororo smiled wider, happy that Kururu didn’t deny it being a subtle offer to make him something. It showed progress, in Dororo’s eyes, and he clung to it eagerly.

“Well, I will leave you to your work. Have a good evening, Kururu-dono.”

“I’ll consider it. _Kukuku…_ ”

* * *

“Oh dear — what has he done now?”

“Looks like somebody didn’t follow my advice and got greedy. _Kuuuukukuku~”_

Dororo stood next to Kururu’s chair, watching on the monitors as Keroro sprinted with fear in his eyes around the base, pursued by a swarm of robotic wasps. Dororo had only stopped by to bring Kururu another parcel of food, but he seemed to come at quite the time — another invasion plan fell wildly unsuccessful, and now the rest of the platoon seemed to be paying the price. Dororo sighed, disappointed in his leader for… well, a _lot_ of things, but this time particularly for his incompetence. He often felt very excluded and isolated from the rest of the group, and it hurt, but it was times like this that Dororo felt grateful for being forgotten so often.

At least he wasn’t _always_ being forgotten these days. He and Kururu had formed… _some_ sort of mutually-recognized relationship. Dororo wouldn’t quite call it friendship yet, but they were certainly speaking to one another more frequently than Kururu would to literally any other person, and that felt significant to Dororo. He felt a strange sense of camaraderie with Kururu, with both of them being outcasts in their own ways. He hoped, deep down beneath all that dark, twisted personality, Kururu was appreciating it, too.

Dororo was pulled from his thoughts, hearing banging on the doors to the lab. He looked back up at the monitors, seeing Keroro desperately knocking on them with his fists.

_“Kururu!! Kururu I know you’re in there — please help!!”_

“I told you how to avoid this, y’know,” Kururu spoke into his mic, broadcasting his voice out to the speakers by his door. “You made this bed, so go lie in it. _Kukukuuu~”_

_“Please, Kururu!! They already got Giroro and Tamama — I’m too young and pretty to die so soon!!”_

“Ehhhh, I’m good. _Kuku!”_

Keroro let out a cry of frustration, then perked up as an idea hit him. _“What about Dororo?! Do you know where he is?!”_

Dororo perked up as well momentarily, happy to be remembered in a time of crisis as a source of help. His mood dropped back down again, though, with the realization he was probably going to be intended as a meat shield or sacrifice of some sort so Keroro could escape. Dororo looked over to Kururu, who was staring at him. Dororo’s eyes widened, and he waved his hands in a motion declaring “I’m not here”. Kururu continued to stare him down, and Dororo looked to him with pleading eyes.

Eventually, after a long, drawn-out pause and staredown, Kururu turned to his mic again. “No idea. Not getting any signal from him anywhere near the house.”

Dororo let out a sigh of relief as Keroro whined again. _“You can’t find him?!”_

“I’m not his keeper. Not my job to find him.”

 _"Kururu, I—”_ He cut himself off with a shriek. _“Oh no, they’ve found me!! I don’t wanna die!! I don’t wanna diiiiie!!!”_

With that final scream, Dororo watched as Keroro ran off-screen, chased by the swarm of robo-wasps. Kururu chuckled, clearly enjoying the chaos. “Wonder how long he’ll hold out before they catch up to him. Those little things are built to be persistent.”

Dororo turned to look at Kururu. “Um… Thank you, Kururu-dono, for not telling him I was here. I appreciate it immensely.”

“Eh, it’s funnier this way if he has to deal with it himself.”

“It’s rightfully deserved, I’m sure.”

Kururu chuckled again. “You’re awfully vindictive of our dear leader despite having been childhood friends with him, _heichou_.”

“To call us childhood ‘friends’ feels… like a stretch. You know that just as well as I do.”

"I just find it ironic that you apparently hold all children in this ideation of ‘can do no wrong’ and yet grew up being tormented by a single child into severe psychological trauma.”

Dororo sighed. “I _do_ think all children harbor a certain innocence that adults do not have, one that makes their actions more excusable and understandable due to a lack of fundamental understanding. Keroro… Keroro, I’m truthfully convinced, may just be a sociopath.”

Kururu laughed, the sound a little heartier than his usual chuckle, Dororo idly noted. “That or he’s just _that_ stupid. I really don’t care enough to do a full psychological analysis to figure out which. He isn’t worth the time.”

Dororo huffed, smiling a little. “I appreciate that we both agree on that.”  
  
The two of them stood there in a brief silence, watching Keroro scream and run through the long halls of the base, desperately outrunning swarms of the robotic wasps. Eventually, the silence was broken by Kururu.

“You can hide out in here until this all blows over — it’ll probably be dangerous for you to try getting out of here right now. Just don’t touch anything or bother me while I’m working.”  
  
Dororo looked at him with a bit of surprise, not expecting the offer. “O-Oh, I… thank you, Kururu — that’s very kind of you! I will keep out of your way… Oh! And here — your curry buns!” He nudged the cloth-wrapped box on the desk closer to Kururu with a small smile. “I’m rather confident these ones turned out very well!”

Kururu looked over at them for a moment before looking back at his monitors, now displaying long lines of code that Dororo could not understand for the life of him.

“I’ll be the judge of that… Thanks, Dororo.”

Dororo felt his mood perk up hearing Kururu refer to him by his name. He gave a firm nod, then stepped away from the computer desk. He knelt with his back against the wall, stationed close by the desk as he shut his eyes and relaxed his body. If he was going to spend a while here, he may as well do some meditation.

The occasional distant scream of Keroro didn’t break through his relaxation — his mind was at ease with the feeling of knowing he and Kururu were somehow getting a little closer, despite the odds.

* * *

Yet another unspoken agreement between them emerged. Now, on top of Dororo arriving at least twice a week to Kururu’s lab to deliver homemade food and chat a little, it had become a regular thing for Dororo to just silently meditate nearby Kururu’s work desk while he did his own thing. Dororo enjoyed the moments, the background hums and buzzes of Kururu’s work eventually growing to work as white noise for his meditation.

He was positive Kururu enjoyed the silent company, too. After the first few times, he’d found a tatami mat lying in his usual spot by the wall, which surely Kururu himself must’ve put there. After a week or two, Kururu even directed his attention to the ceiling of the lab, where a strange new circular hatch was visible.

“We get how this works now, and I’m sick of having to let you in and out all the time. Just use that hatch when you wanna come in and out. It’ll be locked when I don’t want you in here, but if it’s unlocked, you’re free to come in and do your thing. _Kukukuku…”_

Ever since then, the routine became that Dororo would deliver the food he’d made, then take his place on his new mat and sit silently as Kururu worked at whatever he had that day. There was a conversation here and there, but for the most part, they would sit in mutual silence. And Dororo genuinely enjoyed it more than likely anybody else would.

The fact that Dororo now had special access to Kururu’s lab made him feel exceptional, like he was given a special gift. To receive it from someone normally so callous and closed-off had his chest fluttering pleasantly. He liked this feeling — it was a rewarding thing, working to earn more and more of Kururu’s friendship. He really did want to be Kururu’s friend at this point, which certainly anybody else would probably call him crazy or foolish for, but he really, really did.

There were a lot of good things about Kururu, beneath the admittedly-creepy surface. Obviously, his intelligence was beyond remarkable, and Dororo always found himself learning a little something during his time there, but anyone would be able to see that about Kururu. No, what Dororo found to be particularly interesting about Kururu was the things that most people _weren’t_ seeing. For example, the thoughtfulness Dororo had seen from Kururu time and time again was nothing short of wonderful to him — he was thrilled to know that even a guy like Kururu had some proper good in him, deep down. He was also very funny, Dororo found — sure, his humor could be a little dry or dark at times, but Dororo couldn’t deny that Kururu could make him laugh with his jokes sometimes.

He hadn’t felt so good about making a friend since meeting Koyuki, and he was delighted that he was making steady progress in befriending Kururu. Even if Kururu didn’t see this as a friendship, Dororo was content with that — he’d call it how he liked in his own mind, for his own selfish reasons.

“... What’s the point in that?”

Dororo blinked his eyes open, looking over at Kururu, who had his chair turned towards him.

“Pardon?”

“You always put your sword on your head when sitting over there. What’s the use?”

“Oh!” Dororo reached up and took it down from his head, resting it in his lap as he spoke. “Well, it partially acts as motivation for me to keep my posture straight and my body focused so that it doesn’t go toppling off my head. It keeps my body stable and grounded so I focus more on my thoughts and keeping my head clear in my meditation.”

“Mm… Weird.”

Dororo chuckled. “Maybe so.”

Another silence fell over them before Kururu turned his chair away again. Dororo repositioned the sword on his head and shut his eyes. He may be weird, but he was in the company of fellow weirdness. It was comforting.

* * *

“Oi, Dororo.”

“Yes, Kururu?”

“... How do you do it?”

Dororo cocked his head in confusion, looking over at Kururu inquisitively. “Do what?”

Kururu was facing away from him still, his chair still facing his monitors. “Meditation. Clearing your mind. That junk.”

Dororo blinked. “Um… well, it certainly takes practice and persistence. I find that it isn’t something you can just do perfectly right off the bat, like most things, but clearing one’s mind can be an especially challenging task.”

“... Hm.”

“... Are you perhaps interested in trying it, Kururu? I would be happy to help guide you through the process!”

There was a very long pause, long enough that Dororo became worried that he’d somehow said something wrong. Kururu, eventually, turned in his chair and stretched.

“Sure, why not. I’m sick of looking at these manuals right now.”

He hopped out of his chair and stepped over to Dororo, plopping down on the mat next to him. Dororo smiled at him, hoping the expression showed through his mask, before facing forward again.

“Okay, well the first step is to become aware of your breathing and gain control of it. Just focus on your breathing, in and out, and let the simple repetition relax your body int—”

_PLOINK!_

_“Khhh… nyoooooh… khhh… nyooooh…”_

Dororo was startled by the sudden presence on his shoulder, and his surprise only grew when he became aware that it was Kururu’s head resting on him, snoring away. He felt his cheeks grow a little warm beneath his mask, but he smiled softly. This isn’t quite what he had planned, but he will happily allow Kururu some well-earned rest. He faced forward and shut his own eyes, relaxing into meditation and relishing in the warm fluttering in his chest.

* * *

Their routine had evolved yet again, after that. Dororo brings food, he sits by the wall silently, Kururu works away, and sometimes Kururu will sit with him and fall asleep if he’s tired. With every new addition to their routine, Dororo felt closer and closer to Kururu. He’d learned a few things about him that seemingly no one else really knew — small tidbits about his past, his interests, his thoughts, things that anyone else would certainly be hard-pressed to learn, especially from the man himself. The constant warmth and affection he felt in his chest was satisfying and felt well-earned.

Sure, maybe getting a little crush on a guy like Kururu was dangerous and probably stupid, but it’s fine! Dororo would be fine!

“Oi, Dororo, m’hungry here.”

“Ah, s-sorry, I was a bit lost in thought. Here—”

Dororo reached down into the box he’d brought today, poking a toothpick into one of the small dumplings. He then brought the dumpling to Kururu’s mouth, who was lying sprawled out on the mat in front of him. He watched in amusement as Kururu ate the dumpling in one bite, chewing with quiet Kururu noises. He swallowed before speaking again.

“These aren’t too bad for being meat-free, I’ll give you that.”

“Ah, thank you! Koyuki and I are interested in adapting our diets to be more vegetarian, so I created this meatless dumpling recipe to see how it would fare. I even utilized some red-belted morel in place of meat to simulate a similar texture!”

“Hm, thought I recognized that aftertaste — not a terrible substitute. I still prefer meat, though.”

Dororo chuckled. “I don’t blame you, I suppose — everyone has their preferences.”

They fell into another comfortable silence, Dororo occasionally poking a dumpling and feeding it to Kururu, taking a few for himself here and there. He enjoyed how they had come to start sharing the food Dororo would bring — it felt… cute. Domestic, even. Very unlike Kururu’s normal character, but then again, he was judging it based on Kururu’s public appearance. This is Kururu behind closed doors. Kururu in privacy. He had no reason to act any differently than usual unless he just _wanted_ to, and the fact that he would act differently with Dororo in this secluded environment made Dororo’s heart burst. Everything was becoming more and more wonderful, and he hoped it wouldn’t stop growing between them.

“Oi, speakin’ of preferences — you’re gay, aren’t you?”

Dororo sputtered, the sudden question catching him _very_ off-guard. His face felt bright red in embarrassment.

_“P-P-Pardon?!”_

Kururu looked up at him, expression unchanged. “You’re gay, aren’t you?”

_“I-I… Y… I-I mean… well… h-how did… you know that…?”_

Kururu shrugged. “I’m just a guy who knows stuff. _Kukuku~”_

Dororo looked away nervously. He wasn’t exactly in the closet or anything, but he didn’t really express it, either — he _really_ didn’t know where Kururu could’ve learned about his sexuality. Keroro didn’t know, and he really doubted Giroro would’ve had any reason to divulge that information.

“Anyway, I’m askin’ for a reason.”

“O-Oh, um… well, o-okay. What is it?”

“Do you consider what’s been goin’ on with us to be romantic?”

Now Dororo was certain his face was _steamingly_ flushed. _“Wh-What?!”_

‘Boy, I gotta repeat myself a lot around you, huh. I said—”

_“I heard what you said — I am just very caught off-guard!!”_

Kururu chuckled. _“Kuku —_ that much was obvious.”

Dororo huffed, averting his gaze again. He really… didn’t _know_ how to answer the question. Truthfully, he did feel increasingly warm and at ease around Kururu as time had gone on, which certainly _anyone else_ would explain away as either he’s either in love or just an idiot. However, to say he was considering the budding relationship between them to be romantic wasn’t correct, either — he’d been viewing this entirely platonically from the beginning.

… Then again, he _also_ couldn’t definitively say that he didn’t _want_ to consider it romantic, deep down. He just simply doubted his chances at achieving such a thing, _especially_ with someone as asocial and dark as Kururu.

_“Um, I-I… no…? N-No, I haven’t.”_

“Hm. Interesting.”

That was apparently the extent of the questioning, as Kururu fell into another silence. Dororo couldn’t tell if he himself was relieved or disappointed that his questions ended there. He decided to cut his losses and be thankful that he wasn’t going to be subject to further questioning on the matter and instead went back to enjoying their silence. His meditation, however, came much slower thanks to the new thoughts clogging his mind and refusing to leave.

* * *

“— so I doubt I’ll be making something as useless as that machine again anytime soon.”

Dororo nodded with a hum, picking up another rice ball from the box next to him and worming his hand under his mask from below to pop it into his mouth. Kururu was, again, laying out on the mat in front of Dororo’s legs, lying on his back and occasionally being fed rice balls by the other frog. It had been a week since the conversation where Kururu briefly interrogated Dororo about his sexuality, and despite meeting a couple of other times between then and now, Dororo couldn’t help but fixate on the questioning in his own mind. Kururu hadn’t made any remarks or asked similar questions regarding the subject, and it had been eating away at him in the back of his mind.

Why did he want to know? Does _he_ consider this romantic? Does he _want_ to, like Dororo does? Would he be disgusted by Dororo if he wanted it to be romantic? Would he be offended? Is he asking based on stereotypes and thinks Dororo is interested in all men around him? No, he’s too smart for that — _or is he?!_

_“Eh, you ignorin’ me now?”_

Dororo blinked out of his thoughts, realizing Kururu was looking at him expectantly. He waved his hands defensively, a small blush on his cheeks.

“Ah, s-sorry! I was a little lost in thought — did you ask something?”

“Tch, you do that a lot… I asked what the point of wearin’ that mask all the time does for you. Can’t imagine it’s _that_ helpful for your autoimmune deficiency.”

“O-Oh, well… no, it doesn’t do much in the aid of keeping me from getting sick or anything. I had to wear a mask constantly as a child to reduce my intake and spread of infection. And certainly, during my assassin training, I required a specialty mask to ensure my body could withstand the training without being compromised by infections. However, my need for such protections has fortunately limited as I’ve grown older. Not to mention, Pekoponian air seems to treat me kinder than most environments, and I find myself afflicted with far less illness than I would see in my youth.”

“Then why keep your face covered at this point?”

“... I guess I just… like it? I-I’m not entirely sure, to be perfectly honest. I suppose I’m just very accustomed to keeping my face covered and feel more secure having it protected undercover.” He giggled. “It seems a little silly saying that aloud, but I suppose it’s just the truth.”

Kururu hummed. “Weirdo.”

“With all due respect, I feel as though you have no room to talk.”

 _“Kuukukuku…_ Maybe so.”

Another long silence blanketed the room, occasionally being broken by Kururu requesting another rice ball. Dororo idly wondered if Kururu saw this as being domestic at all, the way they just silently enjoyed one another’s company, sharing small conversation, one of them _feeding_ the other… 

“Oi, Doro.”

Dororo felt his cheeks warm a bit at the unexpected nickname. “Um, yes?”

“... You _want_ this to be romantic.”

Dororo froze, his face growing hot and eyes blowing wide. The way Kururu didn’t even word it as a question, but a _statement,_ had Dororo’s blood running cold with anxiety.

_“I… wh-what?”_

“You want this —” Kururu raised a hand in the air, vaguely making a circling gesture. “— the whole thing we got goin’ here — you want it to be romantic. You don’t consider it to be yet, but you’d like it to be.” A pause, then Kururu turned his head to look up at Dororo, expression unreadable as always. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

Another pause, caused by Dororo being completely unable to conjure a response, before Kururu spoke again. _“Kuku,_ right on the money, once again.”

_“I-I didn’t say it was correct yet!!”_

“Your silence said enough. And even if it didn’t, the ‘yet’ implies you were _going_ to say it was correct, no?”

Dororo clamped his mouth shut, cheeks burning scarlet as he looked away shamefully. He rested his hands in his lap, fidgeting awkwardly.

_“I-I… I… I’m sorry.”_

Kururu scratched his face. “Eh? What’s the apology for?”

_“Well, I… I’m sure you’d be uncomfortable by my… um, inner desire for such a connection. So I am apologizing if anything I have ever said or done or felt has made you uncomfortable.”_

“... You apologize too much.”

Dororo gave an awkward, forced chuckle. _“You’re… probably right.”_

Another long stretch of silence, this one _much_ less comfortable for Dororo than their other ones.

“... Love is gross.”

Dororo looked down at him again, rubbing his own arm sheepishly. “That’s… certainly an expected opinion from you…”

“... I’ve often been referred to as a gross individual, though.”

Dororo looked at him in surprise, watching as Kururu rolled onto his side and put his back to Dororo. He could’ve sworn he caught the lightest tinge of color on Kururu’s cheeks before his face disappeared from his line of sight, though.

“I’m pretty gross and weird. So I guess one more gross thing about me isn’t gonna be too surprising or out of character.”

“... Are… D-Does that… You…”

 _“Kuku…_ Geez, you’re slow. I’m saying I don’t mind being a little more gross, especially if it benefits me.”

Dororo could feel his beaming smile stretch his cheeks beneath his mask. “... You would consider a romantic relationship with me beneficial?”

“Of course — I’m certainly getting more free food and good naps out of something like that, aren’t I? _Kuuukukuku…”_

Dororo couldn’t help but chuckle, feeling _elated_ at how this conversation was going. “That can’t be _all_ you’d want from being romantically-involved with me — if that is all you’d want, you were already getting plenty of both of those things when this was platonic.”

Kururu shrugged, scratching his belly. “Eh, we’ll see if there are any additional benefits I can find.”

Dororo had a thought, and he impulsively acted upon it.

_“Nyeh—?!”_

Dororo silently pulled Kururu’s body closer so that Kururu’s head was resting in his lap. Now with Kururu resting face-up, Dororo could see the faint color on his cheeks, and he couldn’t help but admire how… _cute_ Kururu looked with such an expression. Kururu huffed with a furrowed brow.

_“Geez, for somebody all about manners and politeness, you’re awfully bad at giving heads-ups...”_

Dororo giggled, resting his hand on Kururu’s side. “Forgive me, Kururu — I simply thought this might be more comfortable for you than resting your head directly on the tatami mat.”

Kururu hummed, a little annoyed-sounding still. “It is, but I don’t like surprises. You get off with a warning this time.”

“I’m relieved to hear that, then,” Dororo looked down at him with a soft smile, hoping Kururu could sense it through his gaze, before looking back up and shutting his eyes. He felt a strange mixture of at ease and giddy, the conflicting emotions tumbling around in his mind as he enjoyed the warmth of Kururu resting on him.

That only lasted for a few moments, though, before Dororo became aware of his hand being grabbed and a pair of lips connected with the back of it. His eyes flung open to look down at Kururu with bewilderment, but by the time his eyes had opened, Kururu was laying his cheek against Dororo’s lap, facing away from him. Dororo’s hand was also already back laying across Kururu’s waist.

 _“Ku…_ g’night, Doro.”

Dororo could _cry_ with how overjoyed and thankful he was to have such simple niceness and affection from such a normally cold and distant man. He grinned beneath his mask, bringing his free hand up to rest it atop Kururu’s head, petting soothingly. He was worried how something romantic between them might be, but he was now more confident than ever that they would certainly be able to make it work.

_“Goodnight, Kuru-kun.”_


End file.
